Hello everyone, I’ve written a message below about a friend of mine who could use our help

Hello everyone, I’ve written a message below about a friend of mine who could use our help.  I would greatly appreciate it if you could read it and share with your social networks.  Forewarning: I do request a $5 donation at the end of the message.  Thank you in advance for your help, and to those of you who have already donated, thank you again for your support - please consider spreading the word. Much love, Sebastian———————————————— I count myself among the very lucky and privileged.  As a transgender person, people often tell me how brave I am to be living my life as the man I truly am.  They tell me I must be so strong to have gone through what I have in order to live this way.  I always feel strange hearing that, and while maybe I should give myself some more credit than I do, a lot of the credit goes to my family and friends who have been accepting and supportive of my identity, my transition, and related life decisions.  When I knew that I needed to have surgery to achieve a masculine chest (we call it “top surgery”), I could do so.  Not only did my family and friends accept this as a necessity for my mental and physical health, but my parents had the financial resources to pay for the surgery (insurance does not cover it), friends and family helped cover travel and other expenses, and I had family to stay with during recovery.  Additionally, I had job prospects that I was confident would not be impacted negatively by having surgery. My work with trans youth and within the transgender community at-large has taught me that few people are as fortunate as I am.  Many wait years and max out credit cards to get the surgery or surgeries they need.  Many face very real discrimination and rejection for making the changes in their lives that they need to.  When possible, I believe that  those of us who are fortunate to have support, financial resources, and protection from discrimination have a responsibility to help those in need. I currently have a good friend who has such need.  A committed servicemember, Jake has lived partially in the closet for years, because coming out as transgender would mean being discharged from the military.  (The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell applied to sexual orientation but did not affect the military’s exclusionary policies against transgender servicemembers.)  Jake has made the difficult decision to leave the military so that he can take much needed and desired steps in his transition, such as legally changing his name and having top surgery.  He was offered a last-minute opening (for tomorrow!) for top surgery and took out thousands of dollars in loans to be able to pay for it. I have organized a campaign to collect donations for Jake’s surgery expenses.  While Jake does have the support of many friends and family, he is a student with limited financial resources and his surgery means he will lose his military income and benefits.  I am asking that this holiday season everyone donate $5 or more to this fund - if that is beyond your means, please share this message with anyone who might be able to donate or spread the word.  We also have non-financial donations of support listed at the campaign site (link below). Jake is a humble advocate who is responsible for a great deal of important progress within the LGBQ and transgender communities and within the military, though he would never tell you.  He is an officer who has served his state and country for over 8 years.  And he is a vital part of a support network for other trans members of our armed forces who must remain closeted.  I can think of few people who deserve our support more than Jake does at this time. Please donate and/or read more about Jake and the perks of donating here: http://www.gofundme.com/Soldiers-Top-Surgery As a final note, let me say that I can’t communicate the feeling I get every time I’m notified of a donation of any size and/or messages of support.  Thank you for your contributions and for bringing extra cheer to all of us this holiday season! -- source link

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